APPLE FILLING
3 ¼ pounds baking apples (about 11)
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cornstarch
¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2/3 cup water
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
¾ cup raisins
1. Peel and core apples. Slice ¼-inch thick and place in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk cornstarch, sugar and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, bring 2/3 cup water to a boil. Whisk in reserved cornstarch mixture and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thick. Scrape cornstarch mixture over apples and toss to coat well. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins, and stir to combine; let cool completely. (Filling can be refrigerated, covered, up to a day in advance.)
SWEET PASTRY
2 sticks unsalted butter (½ pound), softened slightly
½ cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¾ cups flour
Créme anglaise (optional)
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Pour in half the beaten egg (reserve remainder) and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in vanilla and salt.
2. With a wooden spoon, stir in flour until combined. Do not overmix. Gather dough into ball, kneading with your hand until it comes together; divide into 2 pieces, 1 slightly larger than the other. Flatten larger piece into a disk and smaller piece into a rectangle; wrap each in plastic and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead; keep refrigerated. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
TO ASSEMBLE
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 9-inch round springform cake pan, or spray it with nonstick spray. Roll out larger piece of dough (disk) onto floured surface to ¼-inch thick. (If your pan is 3 inches deep, circle will need to be 15 inches in diameter.) Ease crust into bottom and up sides of prepared pan, patching as necessary. Leave a ½-inch overhang.
2. Spoon apple filling into crust. Roll out dough rectangle until it is less than ¼-inch thick. Cut lengthwise into twelve ½-inch wide strips. Place 6 strips 1 inch apart atop apple filling. Place remaining 6 strips diagonally atop first 6 strips, forming a diamond lattice pattern. Trim strips even with bottom crust. Fold dough overhang in, pressing onto edge of cake pan. Press dough edge to seal.
3. Brush dough strips with remaining beaten egg. Bake cake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue to bake until crust is golden and apples are tender, covering crust edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Cool at least 2 hours. Remove side of pan and serve cake slightly warm or at room temperature with créme anglaise, if desired.
TIP
Do not add cold eggs straight from the refrigerator to creamed butter and sugar. If your eggs are cold when you need to use them, warm them in their shells in a bowl of hot tap water first. - Guenther Cussigh, corporate executive chef.
